Sole-pressing machine.



W. C. STEWART.

SOLE PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-26,1915- 1 ,277,769. Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

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SOLE PRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

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W. C. STEWART. SOLE PRESSlNG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.26. 1915'.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

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W. C. STEWART.

SOLE PRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.26. x915.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

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W. C. STEWART.

SOLE. PRESSING MACHiNE.

APPLICAHON FILED AUG-26.1915.

1 ,277,7 69 Patentd Sept. 3, 191 8..

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1 nun UNITED sT TEs PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM C. STEWART, OE SWAMLPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To UNITED SHOE MACHINERY .coRPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

S LE-PRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 3,1918.

Application fi led August 26, 1915. Serial No. 47 ,539.

To all whom it may concern:

a. subject of theKing of Great Britain, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sole-Pressing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to Which it appertains to make and use the same,

The present invention relates to sole pressing machines and more particularly to machines of this type employed for shaping a flat sole before it is incorporated in a boot or shoe. V

"In certain styles of shoes now commonly manufactured the ball line of the sole is characterized by a well-defined line or break in the sole. Considerable difiiculty is eX- perienced in imparting this well-defined line to the sole in such a manner that it shall be permanently maintained, and without breaking or straining the fibers of the sole unduly during the pressingoperation.

The object of the present invention is to provide a sole pressing machine of an improved type which is particularly adapted for pressing soles having a sharp break at the ball line. IVith this object in view one feature of the invention contemplates the provision in a sole pressing machine having cooperating forms, of means for relatively actuating the forms constructed and arranged to cause the forms to first compress and grip the portion of the sole adjacent to the ball line and to then bend and compress that portion of the sole upon the Opposite side of the ball line. In the simplest and most eilicient form of the invention which has yet been devised the actuating mechanism for the forms is so arranged that the sole is first gripped at the shank portion ad.- jacent to the ball line and is next engaged at the forepart upon the opposite side of the ball line in such a manner that the continued movement of the forms in a direction to press the sole compresses and upsets the sole at the ball line. A

In order to insure that the shape of the sole imparted by the molding operation shall be permanent it is desirable that the sole remain under pressure for a predetermined Be'it known that I, WILLIAM C. STEWART,

ture of the invention consists in the combination with the usual clutch control actuating mechanism and a controlling device actuated bv the operator, of a timing mechanism acting automatically upon each operative movement of the controlling device to render another similar movement of the controlling device inefiective until the expiration of a predetermined time 7 Still further features of the invention consist in certain novel features of construction, combinations 7 and arrangementsof parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the accompanying description.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a right hand side elevation of a sole molding machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a right-hand side elevation partly in vertical section showing particu .larly the mechanism for controlling the relative longitudinal movement of the dies, on a larger scale thanJFig. 1.; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the yielding connections between the slide and the slide actuating lever shown in Fig. 2; Fig. at is a fragmentary side elevation on a larger scale'than the preceding figures, illustrating the mode of operation of'the molds on the shoe sole; Fig. '5 isa right hand-side elevation of the automatic timing devices; Fig. 6 isa plan view of the same parts; Fig. 7 is a detail view in right hand side elevation, of certain parts of the timing mechanism showing the fluid con trolled check iii-vertical section; Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a right hand side elevation of the work clamp and'its'man ually operable controlling mechanism; Fig. 10 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 9, showing the parts in a different position; and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the *mechanisni shown in Fig. 9. o

The invention is illustrated as embodied in asole-molding machine of which the general form and mode of operation are substantially those of the machine disclosed in Letters Pat-entiof the United States No; 1,003,971, granted to Ball, September'QB, 1911. -As in the machine of said patent, the present machine is provided with lower and upper forms 12 and 14:, between which the shoe sole is compressed and formed, and

with a frame 16 upon which the upper form is mounted and held stationary. The lower form is fixed on a slide 18, which moves horizontally in guide-ways on a cross-head 20. This cross-head is provided with sleeves 22 which slide vertically on guide rods 24', and

is employed for the purpose of moving the,

lower mold .12 forwardly after this mold has been lowered from cooperative relation. with the upper mold, to facilitate the removal and replacement of the work, and the means employed for actuating the slide are in general the same as those disclosed in the said Patent No. 1,003,971. A slide actuating lever 34 is mounted on a pivot 86. in depending portions of the cross head, and the lower arm of the lever is provided with a cam slot 38 which receives a roller -"l-O. This roller is journaled at the rear end of an arm 12 fixed, rigidly on, the upper toggle arm 26. The rocking movements of the toggle arm, relatively to the cross head, cause the roller totraverse the cam slot and thus to rock the lever, .the shape of the slot being such that the leve is moved only when the roller is in the upper portion of the slot, so that the forward and rearward movements of the'slide on the cross head occur only when the lower form is near the lower part of. its rising and falling movements.

It willbe noted from an inspection of the drawings and more particularly Fig. 4, that the cooperating forms are constructed and arranged to impart a sharp break in. the sole at the ball line, the portions 14; and 46 of the forms which engage respectively with the shank andforepart of the sole meeting with the sharp angle denoted at 48. hen the two forms are located in exact register with one another all portions of the sole are gripped equally as the forms approach one another and the tendency of the forms is to stretch that portion of the sole at the ball line over. the lower form causing excessive strains in the sole, and sometimes breaking the fibers. In. addition, difficulty is experienced on account of variations in vthethickabove mentioned disadvantages the cooper-' ating forms of the present machine are supported and. actuated in such a maner that the relatlvemovement of the forms toward cated by the arrows d9.

one another first causes the forms to engage and clamp the soleat the shank portion adjacent to the ball line 48, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, in. which. the shank portion is shown as compressed and clamped in the region indito move toward one another they are moved relatively in a lengthwise direction to cause the forms to. exactly register when in the final pressing position. As the sole is bent about the sharp angle denoted by 5 .8 upon the lower form this relative movement of the two forms in a lengthwise direction causes the upper form to slide over the surface of the sole as the two forms approach one another. As the sole is held in a substantially fixed relation to the lower form the continued movement of the forms to ward .one another causes the sole to be squeezed by the two forms into the space at the ball line, forming a well defined break at this point without educing the thickness of the sole or straining the fibers unduly. The resultant movement of the two forms caused by the two movements above mentioned is indicated upon Fig. i by the arrow 51 and the effect of this movement, as stated heretofore, is to produce the bend in the sole by an upsetting or condensing action, of the fibers rather than by an undue stretching of the fibers at the outside or upper surface of the sole.

The relative longitudinal position of the two forms is determined by a longitudinal adjustment of the upper form 14. This form is mounted on the frame 16 in the usual manner and the means for adjusting the form are of the usual type comprising an adjusting screw 50 which engages a block 52 and is operated to adjust the form in a lengthwise direction relative to the frame. The relative longitudinal movement of the two forms which occurs after the gripping of the shank portion of the sole is permitted by yielding connections between the slide 18 andthe lever 34. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the lever is pivotally connected at 56 with the U-shaped member 58. which is received between the arms of the second U-shaped member 60. The member 60 is journaled upon a stub shaft 62- carried by lugs Gatdepending from the slide and the shaft 62 passes through elongated openings 66 formed in the. sides of the member 58. In order to provide a relative yielding move ment between the two members a compression spring 68 is interposed between the member 58 and an adjusting screw 70 threaded in the member 60. The spring 68 normally retains the two members 5S and 60 in position with the shaft 62 retained at the right hand end of the elongated opening 66, but when the forms engage with the to yield longitudinally by compression of As the forms continue I the spring and a movement of the shaft 62 inthe opening 66.

The means for automatically regulating the time of operation of the machine will now be described. The present machine, as is common in sole-molding machines. and exemplified in the said Patent No. 1,003,971, is

a twin machine, that is, to say, it has two cross-heads and two sets of molds which are moved alternately, so that when one crosshead is raised and the mold; carried by it is in operative position the other cross-head is lowered and the mold carried by it is in position for the removal and replacement of the work. The mechanism for actuating the cross-heads in the present machine may be the same as that disclosed in the patent to Ball, No. 1,084,526, granted January 13, 1914, the crank shaft 33 being actuated by clutch mechanism and gearing connecting the crank shaft with a power shaft 72 journaled on the frame of the machine. In this connection the novel features of the present invention reside particularly. in the means by which theclutch mechanism is connected with the treadle for throwing the machine into operation. w

Referring to Fig. 1, the machine is shown as provided with a treadle 80 at the front,

this treadle being so connected with the clutch mechanism t-hat'when it is depressed a half rotation is imparted to the, crank shaft. The treadle is supported by a stem 82-adjustably fixed in a sleeve 84, as shown in Fig. 6. This sleeve is integral with an arm 86 comprising two parallel side members mounted at theirrear ends on a stud 88. The stud is fixed in two arms 90 and 92 forming; part of a bell crank lever, of which the main portions or arms are the upwardly extending-arm 92 and an arm 100 extending in a generally horizontal direction. The arms 90 and 92 are connected by a part 94, and the lever as a whole, is mounted to swing about a pivot rod96 which is carried at the lower end of a hanger 98 depending" rigidly from the frame'of the machine.

I The forward ends of the arms 86 and 100 are connected by a toggle comprising upper and-lower'toggle arms 104-and 106. These arms are connected together by-a pin 110 fixed'in. the arm 106 and this pin moves in an elongated opening in the arm 104 as shown in dotted lines in. Fig. 7. The arm 106 is attached to the arm100by a pivot pin.

102, while the arm 104 is attached to the arm 86 by a pivot pin 108.: A spring 112'is connected at one end to a pin 114 fixed in the.

arm 86, and the other endof the-spring is attached to an arm 116 integral with and projecting upwardly from the toggle arm 104. This spring tends to swing the toggle from'the brokenposition of Fig. 7 to the straight position ofFig. 5, thisstraight posi-' tion being the normal position of the toggle.

A spring118-is fixed at its lower end to the the machine, and this spring tendsv to raise the lever 86 and the treadle, The upward movement of the lever 86 is limited by the engagement of a stop screw 120 in the rear end of thelever, with the part 94 of the bell crank lever comprising the arms 92 and 100. The lever arm 92 is connected with a link 78 (Fig. 1). which acts, when drawn forwardly, to throw the clutch mechanism into operation in the manner disclosed in said Patent N 0. 1,084,526, and this movement is produced by depressing the treadle, thus swinging the arm 86 downwardly, which acts through the toggle when the latter is in straight line position to swing downwardly the arm 100 of the bell crank lever.

The automatic timing mechanism acts after an operative movement of the treadle, such as that just described, to break the toggle so that adepression of the treadle cannot again rock the bell crank lever until the toggle,after the lapse of a certain time, has been restored to straight line position. The timing mechanism is controlled by a hydraulic check comprising a plunger 122 moving in a cylinder124; The upper endof the plunger is pivoted to a stationary frame mounted on a horizontal rod 128 fixed on the frame of the machine, this. stationary frame comprising an upright 126 by which the plunger is supported and an arm 13 0 projecting rearwardly and ,forked to engage the pivot rod 96 so as to prevent the frame from rocking on the rod 128. The lower end of the checkcylinder 124 is pivoted to a stud 132, projecting laterally. from the'forward end pivoted loosely on the pivot rod 96. An adjustable stop screw 136, carried by the lever arm 100, is adapted to engage a surface 138 of an arm 134 which is wardly from the toggle arm 106, with the result that the toggle arm is-swung in a direction to break the toggle, as shown in :Fig. 7, and the toggleis held in this broken po-' sition until released by a rising movement of the cylinder 124. I

The rising movement of the cylinder is retarded by oil or other suitableliquid within the cylinder. vAt the upper end of the cylinderi s a chamber 142 adapted to contain liquid, and this chamber communicates with the lower part of the cylinder by a passage The downwardmovement of the cylinder is unrestrained, as it is accompanied by a free flow of liquid from the chamber 142' through the passages 148 and 1 52 and into the lower a return movement part of the cylinder, but of the cylinder is retarded, as the check valve 150 prevents the liquid fromreturningthrough the passage 152, and liquid can escape only through the narrow opening provided by the regulating valve 146. The return movement of the cylinder is produced by a spring 156. This spring is fixed, at its rear end, to an arm 154 depending; rigidly from the hub of the arm 134 and' the forwardend of the spring is attached to astem 158 adjustably mounted in an arm 1 60 integral with the arms 126 and 1 302 The speed of the return movement of the cylinder may thus, be adjusted both by the valve 146 and by adjustment of'the tension ofthe spring 156. If the operator after having to throw the madepressed the treadle should depress the chine once into operation,

treadle again after an unduly short interval of time, no result would be produced be cause the toggle would still be held inbroken position by the stud 132, acting against the lug 140 but after the lapse of a sufficient interval of'time the check cylinder will have been raised by the action of the spring 156, thus permitting the toggle to gradually straighten again, and when the straightening movement has been completed the parts are in the position of Fig. 5 and the treadle may again be depressed effectively.

The work clamp and its actuating, means are shown particularly in Figs. 1, 9, 10 and 11. An arm 162 is mounted toswing about a pivot 164 carriedby framework 166 which is fixed on the top of the slide 18. This arm. overhangs the rear portion of the lower mold bifurcated and provided with- 12, and is work engaging fingers 168 of suitablefrictional material. which engage with the, heel end of the sole upon opposite sides of the slot formed in the rear end of the sole supporting form 12 to clamp the sole to the form. The rear endofthe arm is seated in a rocking member 170, which is mounted to turn on the pivot 164, and the arm. is fixed to.the rockingmember by a screw 172, while an adjustingscrew 174' is provided'to swing it to a slight extent with respect to the .rockmember, and thusadjust' the pressure with which the work is engaged by the clamp. A spring 176, connecting the rockma ia).

ing member and the framework 166, tends to raise the clamp arm from operative position, but a canr roller 178, journaled on the rocking member, cooperateswith a cam 180 havinga series of high parts alternating with. low parts in its periphery, and when the roller is engaged by one of the high parts of the cam the rocking member is rocked in a direction toaswing the claanparm downwardly and cause a clamping engagement with the sole X on the lower mold. The cam 1i80- is fixed! on a shaft 182 which is journaled on the frame 166,. and this shaft isrota-ted for the purpose of actuating the cam, by connection. with a hand lever 184. This lever projects into convenient position for manipulation in front of the machine, and it is pivota-lly mounted on a bracket 186 which isclamped to one of the guide rods 24. rod 188 connects the rear end of the hand lever with the forward end of a lever 190 which. is pivoted! at its rear end on a rod 192 fixed in the. frame of the machine. Air arm 194, pivoted at its lower end on the lever 190, projects upwardly at one side of the slide and carries a pin 196- which cooperates in the manner of a pawl, with a ratchet wheel 198 fined on the end of the sl'iaft 1821 A; spring 200, connecting the arm 1 94 witlrthe lever 190, maintains the pawl in engagement with the ratchet wheel, while aspning' 202',- connecting the hand lever 184 with the bracket 186, normally holds the forward end of" the hand lever raised and the lever 190 in depressed position. The ratchet wheel: 1598- has a tooth corresponding to each high portion of the cam 180, and a tooth corresponding to each low portion of the cam. 1 f, then, the clamp be in operative position, asshown in Fig. 9, and: the hand lever 1848136 pulled downwardly,.the ratchet wheel is: moved through the space of one tooth, thus moving the cam into a position inwhich the roller 178 encounters one of the low points on'the cam, and the work. clamp is thenthrown out of operation by the spring 176. The handlever, when released, has an idle upward movement by whichthe'pawl is drawn idly to a position to engage the next ratchet tooth. To throw the work clamp again into operation another downward movement of the hand lever is required. Assuming that the machine is in the position of'Fig. 1 with a sole X lying on the lower mold and held thereon by the work clamp, this-sole having already been molded, the operator depresses the hand lever 184, thus releasing the molded sole, then removes the sole and replaces it with an unmolded sole; He then depresses the hand lever again, hold the sole and these operations'must be repeated after each molding operation. lVhilethi's arrangement issuch: as tofacilitate the accurate placing of thewvork in the thus causing the clamp'to engage-and of the invention. 30

'liminarily gripped to advantage before particularly pointed out, namely, that the repeated operations of the hand lever consume an appreciable amount of time, thus restraining the operator from unduly hastening the work of the machine. The

machine, it also has the I ratchet wheel and the pawl are in their 00-.

operative relation only when the slide 18 is in its lowermost andv forward position. \Vhen the slide moves rearwardly and upwardly, in consequence of the rising movement of the cross head, the ratchet Wheel is moved away from thepawl, which remains, however, in a position in which it may again cooperate with the ratchet wheel upon the return of the latter, so that by the arrangement and relative position of the pawl and the ratchet wheel provision is made in a simple and eifectivemanner for connecting the stationary hand lever with the vertically and horizontally movable work clam While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, it willbe understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential except so far as specified in the claims, and may be changed or modified without departing from the broader features The invention what is claimed 1s:

1. A sole pressing machine, having in having been described,

combination, cooperating forms, and mech anism constructed and arranged to, first relatively move the forms to grip a portion of the sole adjacent the ball line with a pressure sufiicient to shape the sole and to next relatively move the forms to engage and shape a portion of the sole upon the opposite side of the ball line and adjacent thereto.

2. A sole pressing machine, having incombination, cooperating forms, and mechanism constructed and arranged to first relatively move the forms to grip the shank portion of the sole with a pressure sufiicient to shape the shank and to next relatively move the forms to engage and shape the forepart of the sole adjacent the ball line.

3 A sole pressing machine, having in combination,two cooperating forms, means for relatively moving the forms toward one another, means for retaining the forms in a non-alined position when moved toward one another to cause the forms to first engage and compress the shank portion of the sole, and means for permitting a longitudinal movement of the forms after the sole is precause the shaping of the forepart of the sole.

4. A sole pressing machine, having in combination, two cooperating forms, means for relatively moving the forms toward one another, means for retaining the forms in a non-alined position when moved toward one another to cause the forms to first engage means for breaking the and compress the. shank portion of the sole, and means for permitting a longitudinal movement of the forms after the sole is preliminarily gripped to cause the shaping of the forepart of the sole, having provision V for adjustment to vary the resistance to a relative longitudinal movement of the forms. i

5. A sole pressing machine, having in combination, cooperating I sole pressing forms, mechanism for relatively actuati the forms,a controldevice, connections between the control device and actuating mechanism, and a retarding device for breaking the connection for a predetermined length of time after each actuation of the control device.

6. A sole pressing machine, having in combination, cooperating sole pressing forms, actuating mechanism for the forms, a treadle, a bell crank connecting the treadle with the actuating mechanism, connections between the treadle and bell crank for rocking the bell crank upon adepression of the -treadle, and a retarding device for renderthe connection inoperative after a depression of the treadle.

A sole pressing machine, comprising 7 a bell crank, a toggle connecting the treadle with the bell crank, means for normally maintaining the toggle with the twoarms in alinement, and means for maintaining the ,toggle brokenhfor a predetermined length oftime after an effective movement of the treadle. i 8. A sole pressing machine, comprising a bell crank, a treadle, a retarding cylinder supportedby thebell crank and arranged to move downwardly upon a depression of the treadle, means for retarding the upward movement of the cylinder to cause a relative movement of the cylinder and bell crank, and mechanism actuated by the relative movement of the cylinder and bell crank to break the connection between the treadle and bell crank.

9. A sole pressing machine, comprising a bell crank, an arm pivoted upon the bell crank, a treadle connected to the arm, a toggle connecting the treadle and bell crank to cause a'rocking movement of the bell crankupon a depression of the treadle, and

toggle upon an upward movement of the treadle.

10. A sole pressing machine, comprising a treadle, a bell crank, an arm pivoted upon the bell crank, a retarding cylinder sup ported by the arm, a stationary plunger operating in the cylinder, a toggle connecting the treadle and bell crank, and connections between the cylinder and toggle to break the toggle upon an upward movement of the treadle.

11. A sole combination,

pressing machine, having in cooperating sole pressing forms,

mechanism for relatively actuating the forms, a sole gripping device, a lever, and connections between the lever and gripping device for moving the gripping device alternately toward and from the sole upon each successive actuation of the lever rendered inoperative in certain relative positions of the two forms.

12-. A sole pressing machine, having in combination, cooperating sole pressing forms, :mechanism "for relatively actuating the forms to move the two forms into and out of alinement, .a sole gripping device, and mechanism under the control of the operator for actuating the sole gripping device which is rendered inoperative when the cooperating forms are positioned in alinement with one another.

13. A sole pressing machine, comprising a table, a sole supporting form mounted upon the table, mechanism ior moving the table "transversely, a sole gripping device suported upon the tablead'jacent to the form, a cam for operatingthe sole gripping device, and hand controlled mechanism supported independently of the table and operatively connected with the cam in one position only of the table. r

14. sole pressing machine, comprisinga sole supporting form, a sole gripping device supported adjacent to the form, a rotary .cam operatively connected with the gripping device, a ratchet Wheel, and hand controlled mechanism for actuating the ratchet wheel to impart an intermittent rotation to the cam.

15. A sole pressing machine, comprising a sole supporting form, a gripping device supported adjacent to operator the form, a rotary cam operatively connected with the grippingdevice, and means under the control of the for intermittently rotating the-cam toralternately move the gripping device to ward and from the sole.

16. A sole pressing machine having, in combination, two cooperating forms, means for relatively moving "the "forms toward one another, means for retaining the forms in a non-ali-ned position when moved toward one another to cause the *forms to first engage and compress a portion of the sole "adjacent the ball line, means for-pern'ntting a relative yielding movement oi the forms in a longitudinal direction after the sole is preliminarily gripped to shape a portion of the sole upon the opposite side of the ball line,

and means for securing a relative longitudinal adjustment of the two forms.

17. .A sole pressing machine having, in combination, a sole supporting form, a cooperating pressing form, a vertically movable cross head, a horizontal slide in which the sole supporting form is secured, a toggle for moving the cross head vertically, and yielding connections between the toggle and slide for moving the sole supporting form alinement with the into only approximate pressing'iorm upon a vertical movement of the crossrhead, constructed and arranged to initially grip and shape a portion of the sole adj acent the hall line and to therea'fter permit a relative'yielding movement of the two forms to grip and shape a portion of the sole upon the opposite side of the ball line.

wrLLiAM c. STEWART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of intents, Washington, DJOL" 

